Limitless power breakthrough: Researchers finally manage to get more energy OUT of fusion reaction than they put IN
US Team is first to create more energy out of a fusion reaction than had been absorbed by the fuel used to spark it
Laser system could lead to clean and limitless energy
Team say they have 'a long way to go'
By MARK PRIGG
PUBLISHED: 21:59 GMT, 12 February 2014 | UPDATED: 23:54 GMT, 12 February 2014
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California scientists have taken a key step forward in harnessing nuclear fusion, which could one day lead to clean and limitless energy.
Fusion, the process that powers the Sun and other stars, entails forging the nuclei of atoms to release energy, as opposed to splitting them, which is fission - the principle behind the atomic bomb and nuclear power.
However, researchers have have run up against a giant hurdle until now, finding the energy yield from the reaction has been dwarfed by the vast amounts of energy needed to trigger the process.